Hagel Being Considered for Secretary of Defense

Could Hagel’s appointment even get through the Senate? He served there for over a decade, but he’s alienated fellow Republicans over the last few years by publicly criticizing the party and joining Obama’s intelligence advisory board. That’s strike one, but strikes two and three against him are that he’s a vocal opponent of Israel and soft on Iran. If he’s nominated, it would basically mean the administration has come to terms with Iran getting the bomb.

It’s possible that some of his former Republican colleagues are so unhappy with Hagel that they would try to block his confirmation, but I find this implausible. I doubt that there is any appetite in Republican ranks to put up a big fight to stop a member of their own party from being appointed Secretary of Defense. Would some hard-liners and hawks use a Hagel confirmation hearing to grandstand and berate the administration on matters related to Israel and Iran? Of course, but that will probably happen regardless of who receives the appointment. If Senate Republicans did make a show of opposing a Hagel nomination, it would announce to the public that they remain as clueless on matters related to the military and national security as ever.

While it would be good news if a Hagel appointment meant that there would be a reduced chance of conflict with Iran, I wouldn’t automatically assume that this is the case. Even though Hagel’s support for U.S. military action in the past has sometimes been grudging and qualified, it has always been forthcoming in the end. Whether or not the chances of conflict with Iran increase in the next year or not will depend mostly on how far Obama is willing to go with a confrontational policy.

Hagel’s friendly but objective attitude toward Israel would be a refreshing change from the contemptibly supine posture of Hillary and too many of her predecessors.

Until we have a Secretary of State who looks after US interests first (a new James Baker, for example), we can expect that Israel’s provocations and ripoffs will continue, putting American lives and property at risk.

They don’t get very many opportunities to throw a tantrum since cross-party cabinet appointments are rare. Hagel would get confirmed, but a lot of people would be mad, which is a reason I doubt if it would happen.

“It would be a very unwise and disastrous choice for U.S. policies and activities regarding the Middle East,” said Morris Amitay, a former executive director of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

“You could probably consider him last in the class,” Amitay said when asked to rate Hagel’s views on Israel. “He’s probably the worst.”

Hagel always struck me as a thinking conservative (which is why he’s been ostracized by the right wing-nuts); and I’d appreciate that in ANY administration or position of power…
IF only as a refreshing change…..

I’m sure Hegel would make a perfectly acceptable Secretary of Defense, but the Democrats are now considered the more trustworthy party on international and national security issues. The appointment of a Republican to this post would send a very mixed signal to the public–that Democrats need to entrust this office to a Republican.

Surely, Obama can find a Democrat or someone with no particular party affiliation.

I haven’t seen any reports that he is being seriously considered for the position. There has been some speculation about him in the media, but I don’t believe there’s anything to it. If he had wanted to do it, he would have been a good choice. I think his age may have been one reason he wasn’t considered and/or didn’t want the job. Since Hagel is being vetted for Defense, the possibility that a Republican might be appointed to that position makes it harder to appoint a Republican to State at the same time. Plus, I think Lugar favors Kerry for the position and wouldn’t want to compete with him for it.